Emily Waxler, Kelsey Watson, Clare Seymour, & Ben Koehler
recycleATL
Our Team
Role
Emily
Waxler
Role
Clare
Seymour
Role
Kelsey
Watson
Role
Ben
Koehler
Contents
Low-fidelity Prototype, Evaluation
Problem Formation, Initial Research
Personas, Scenario Storyboards
2
3
1
Definition
Iteration
Exploration
High-fidelity Prototype, Reflections
4
Final Product
Definition
Problem Formation
Initial Research
1
Project Background
After reassessing our initial problem definition
and examining what problems affected litter
and garbage in Atlanta’s green spaces, we
further examined how local recycling issues
could impact the environment.
We decided to focus on urban recycling
practices.
User Research
After researching data about recycling practices
and policies in Atlanta, we reached out to more
than 70 students in order to refine our focus,
hoping to gain a better understanding of the
specific issues surrounding recycling in the
campus community.
We attempted to gather information from
students in all types of living situations,
recognizing that this could have a significant
influence on recycling practices.
Findings
After comparing what students believed to be
recyclable with information from the City of
Atlanta, we noted that students have some
understanding of what is recyclable, but lack
knowledge on best practices and generally
prioritize convenience.
Respondents frequently cited accessibility as a
factor that would make them more likely to
recycle, and several mentioned the easy-to-
identify recycling bins placed inside major
campus buildings as
effective initiatives
Our primary conclusion to address was that a majority of our user group is not
actively or regularly recycling due to lack of knowledge and understanding of
the recycling rules and opportunities that are available to them.
We aim to create a solution that helps college students in Atlanta know
how and where to recycle waste in their vicinity. We are designing a
convenient, simplistic digital platform that helps users recycle efficiently and
correctly in conjunction with physical deliverable that users can keep in
kitchens or trash rooms as a reference sheet.
Problem Definition
Exploration
Personas
Scenario Storyboards
2
Persona 1
Caleb
Age
22
Major
Industrial
Engineering
Year
4th
Location
Off Campus
Apartment Complex
Caleb wants to do well academically, but
also holds the ideal that college shouldn’t
be all work and no play. He does all of his
studying in his room and occasionally finds
himself distracted by his computer and
video games.
Caleb works part-time at the CRC. He
likes his job and other people that work
there. The extra income helps pay for all of
his UberEats orders since he has no clue
how to cook.
Caleb’s top priority is the wellbeing of
those around him. He is kindhearted and
truly wants the best for his friends and
family. In his free-time, Caleb is on the
executive board for a philanthropic student
organization.
He notices the printout on his fridge
one of his roommates put up.
Caleb recycles all the
appropriate materials.
Feeling happy about doing
his part, Caleb returns to hanging
out with his friends.
Storyboard 1: Caleb’s Takeout
Caleb’s recycling bin is filled
with soda cans, beer bottles,
and cardboard.
Caleb doesn’t recognize what’s
recyclable from all the different
takeout waste.
Caleb gets takeout with his
friends on a Saturday night.
Persona 2
Alexa
Age
21
Major
Computer Science
Year
3rd
Location
Off Campus
House Rental
Alexa is a proud Yellow Jacket and is
incredibly active on campus. She is
involved in numerous organizations.
Organized and timely, she manages to
keep track of all of her commitments.
She considers herself to be a leader.
Alexa is an international student who
is paying for college on her own.
Finances are a big deal to her, and she is
determined to get every cent’s worth
out of her college education.
Alexa shares a house on the edge of
Home Park with three other students so
they can split the rent. She’s very active
on platforms like Instagram and
Facebook, keeping in touch with her
friends locally and back at home.
Much to her surprise, Alexa
learns pizza boxes should not be
recycled.
Alexa throws the pizza box in
the trash and recycles the
other appropriate materials.
Alexa hosts a weekly meeting
for her club and provides pizza
for the members.
Afterwards, Alexa wants to set
a good example and help clean
up.
Alexa opens a recycling app on
her phone to double-check what
to do with the waste.
In the app, she checks the
flowchart of recyclable materials.
Storyboard 2: Alexa’s Meeting
Persona 3
Josh
Age
19
Major
Biomedical
Engineering
Year
1st
Location
On Campus
Student Housing
Josh is a diligent student who spends
most of his time at the library or various
study spaces on campus. When he
manages to catch a break, Josh enjoys
going on hiking trips with the friends he’s
met in his freshman dorm.
Josh’s biggest priority is his academics.
He’s determined to get into a prestigious
medical school after college and follow his
mother’s footsteps in the medical field.
However, he’s concerned about getting
too distracted and falling short.
Josh doesn’t spend a lot of time on social
media, but he keeps up to date with
events around campus through his RA
and GT’s email newsletters.
Josh remembers that his RA also
encouraged him to download a
recycling app.
In the app, Josh taps on the map
to locate the nearest recycling to
him.
On the map, he sees a bin right
behind his dorm and tosses his
cup before heading to bed.
Storyboard 3: Josh’s Study Break
Josh spent all night grinding at
the library for his big Biology
test tomorrow.
On his way back to his dorm,
Josh realizes he still has his
plastic coffee cup from earlier.
His RA told him before where
the nearest recycling was, but
Josh is too tired to remember.
Iteration
Low-fidelity Prototyping
Evaluation
3
Initial Prototyping
After reviewing our personas and envisioning
their potential use scenarios, we defined four
key components of our product: a printable
recycling guide, a similar digital flowchart, a
map of nearby recycling locations, and
sharing or printing features.
To gather a breadth of design concepts, we
first explored multiple versions of each concept
independently before working together to
refine a cohesive prototype for evaluation. This
was then evaluated in cognitive walkthroughs,
chosen to gather specific insight on each of our
primary features from potential users.
Printable
Flowchart
Created based on Caleb’s
scenario, these prototypes were
designed to be printed out, as
Caleb’s roommate did, and have
simplistic, intuitive designs so
that people like Caleb could
quickly look at them before
recycling and/or discarding
waste material.
Based on Alexa’s scenario, we prototyped a user-friendly flowchart to help users quickly
discover if a specific product is recyclable. The flowchart is designed to be easy to follow and
includes a “back” button on each screen in case a user makes a mistake in their selections.
Select
“recyclable”
Select
“takeout containers”
Select
“cup”
Select
“paper”
Find out it is
not recyclable
Digital Flowchart
Select the “map” icon
from the home screen
View your current
location and if there are
recycling bins nearby
Click on a recycling icon
to see more information
about the recycling bin
This feature was created based on Josh’s scenario and research indicating most people
won’t go out of their way if they don’t know where to recycle easily. This feature
intends to help people like Josh easily locate and access a nearby recycling bin.
Recycling Location Map
Following our insights from the previous stages of our design process, we
knew that features that enabled sharing across multiple platforms as well as
printing capabilities were key to expanding our project’s usability and impact.
Sharing & Printing
Select “print” or “share”
under a premade document
Select a printer and print
the document
Choose a format to share
the document
Evaluations
During our cognitive walkthroughs, evaluators
identified numerous minor adjustments to
improve our final product as well as key
usability issues for the prototype as a whole.
○ The map feature’s feedback upon tapping
elements was useful, but users felt that a key
would increase their initial confidence
○ Our prototype was generally very icon-heavy,
lacking clarification and leaving users guessing
at what each icon represented
○ Evaluators mentioned that navigation was
somewhat confusing, appreciating a “back”
feature but favoring a navigation bar as well as
a home screen of all of the app’s functions
Final
Product
High-Fidelity Prototype
Reflections
4
High-Fidelity Changes
In the next iteration of our project, feedback
from our evaluation sessions was integrated
into a high-fidelity prototype, visible here:
https://www.figma.com/proto/5ophmeUWMchyI1R7B9AOyq/recycle
ATL?node-id=42%3A727&scaling=scale-down&page-id=0%3A1
○ A key was implemented into the map feature
to assist users in understanding icons for the
various types of recycling locations
○ Icons were clarified - problematic ones were
replaced while core icons had text added
alongside them to help convey meaning
○ A consistent navigation bar, back button, and
share tab were added across the prototype to
increase consistency and user confidence
throughout the system.
Print Resources & Sharing
Recycling Map
Digital Flowchart
Reflections
Over the course of this project, we learned the
value of an iterative, user-centered design
process. Each step of our work built upon
knowledge gathered in previous ones, from our
background research to our prototypes.
Conducting evaluations in an online format was a
significant challenge, bridged with platforms
including Forms, Teams, Mural, and Figma. Our
design team faced similar difficulties, addressed
by division of design responsibility between
virtual meetings to clarify broad and shared goals.
Future steps for this project include potential
collaborations with Campus Sustainability and the
Department of Public Works to increase depth
and accuracy of our flowchart and map features.
Questions?
Thank you!
